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Foundation News
This week in Foundation, there was lots of amazing learning, however sadly, our week ended a little bit differently than normal. Despite the lockdown cutting our week short, there is still plenty of learning to share and celebrate.
As readers, we are continuing to read different picture books and identify the different verbs. As thinkers, we used the Colourful Semantics cards, ‘Who’ and ‘What Doing’ to help us construct sentences that included the characters and the verbs from the text. As communicators, we shared our sentences in small groups and had a go at writing them, remembering to stretch out our words, and include spaces, a full stop and sight words. We are also continuing to read, write and spell our Sight Words in focus groups and during independent learning. We are becoming more confident with these! As thinkers, we are constructing sentences with our sight words and using our skills as writers to record these. Please continue to practise these words as part of home learning. Some of us are also beginning to write CVC words, which are words that have a consonant, vowel, consonant, such as cat, pan, lip, bed, ham. As thinkers, we have to stretch out the word and identify and record the three sounds.
As mathematicians, we tuned in to Data and Statistics and learnt that data is all about collecting information. As researchers, we had a go at doing this ourselves. We all got a pile of counters and as thinkers, we sorted these out by colour and answered simple yes/no questions, such as ‘Do you have a blue counter?’ and ‘Do you have a red counter?’ As communicators, we recorded our thinking using tally marks and counted them to identify how many people did have a red and did not have a red counter. We discovered that there were more people who did have a red counter! As researchers, we continued to find out about data and record our findings using tally marks as we engaged in a little game. We had to throw a beanbag into a bucket and count our tally marks to find out how many times we got the beanbag in the bucket and how many times we missed. Learning about data is so much fun!
As part of our Discovery Time workshops, we were thinkers, writers, builders, architects, researchers, communicators and collaborators. As writers, we created letters, cards and invitations for our family and friends at the writing station. We collaborated by helping each other to write different letters and words. As researchers, we continued to investigate the human body and find out about different farm animals by looking at books, pictures and 3D models. We discovered that researchers can also use the internet to find out about something they are curious about. As communicators, we reflected on our learning and shared our discoveries with our peers.
As architects, we looked closely at pictures of houses and apartments and different blueprints, before putting on our fluro vests and designing our own houses and buildings. Some of us collaborated to design one house, and others worked independently. We discovered that houses have a foundation to keep it stable, which is made from concrete, and that many house frames are made from steel or wood. We had so much fun designing bedrooms, kitchens and rooftop dining areas. This week, we were super excited to have our tinkering station back, and collaborated to problem solve. As builders, we were trying to construct houses and airplanes but had to connect the pieces of wood together. As thinkers, we tried to use different latches and screws to connect them. We had to communicate with each other, listen to everyone’s ideas and be persistent!
We wish everyone the best of luck as they engage in Remote Learning from home this week. Please remember to get outside for some exercise and fresh air and take lots of breaks. Hopefully we will all be back at school this Friday!
Foundation Team,
Alycia Marsico and Leanne Wenckowski.
Year 1/2
As the month of May comes to an end, we welcome and embrace the winter months and all of the exciting learning that lies ahead. We trust that all families are helping and supporting each other during this brief lockdown.
On Thursday, as self-managers, the students discussed how the week ahead could help them to be resourceful, creative and responsible learners. We look forward to our daily Google Meets at 10:00 am and 3:00 pm.
The students are enjoying our Shared Inquiry ‘Mix it Up’ and the opportunities to participate in hands on learning. As scientists, students participated in four experiments and observed, communicated, made inferences and predicted.
What happens when we mix baking powder and vinegar?
What happens when we mix oil, water and berocca?
What happens when we mix hydrogen peroxide, yeast, detergent and food colouring?
What materials are soluble? What materials are insoluble?
As Mathematicians, we have been continuing to use informal units of measurement (unifixblocks) to measure and compare the height of each other.
Learning in Discovery!
We look forward to seeing you all back at school!
Take care and stay safe!
Belinda Filippone, Stefanie Carriera and Maria Delaney
Year 3/4
What a place to find ourselves, having reached the halfway point of Term 2 – in lockdown again! The Year 3/4 students and their parents did such a great job with this last year and earlier this year, we know you will all be just fine again this time. Please encourage the children to be as independent as possible and to just try their very best to complete the tasks in their learning pack. Please let us know if there is anything we can do to support you over the coming days of lockdown.
As writers this week, the 3/4 students will undertake ‘Snapshot Writing’ where they will view various images and write what they see, hear, touch, taste and smell. The students will compose detailed sentences by including rich vocabulary such as adjectives. They will then write a descriptive paragraph from their sentences. We can’t wait to read their written work!
As mathematicians, we are continuing to explore money. We are having lots of fun learning about money and have practised counting money and adding coins and notes. During remote learning this week the students will find different ways to make a given amount of money, shop for items, calculate change and solve money worded problems.
As inquirers, the students will research a famous scientist. They will discover more about how scientists work and record down their new learning and facts in a simple report.
Last week, the Year 4 girls were fortunate to attend Mercy College Coburg with Ms Sally and Ms Davidson for the Mercy College Explore Day. It was a wonderful opportunity for the students to see how a secondary school operates and to explore the facilities and learning offered at Mercy College. The Year 4 girls had an amazing time participating as students in some of the subjects offered at Mercy College, such as Science, History, Art, Maths, STEM, Indonesian, Dance, Music and Food Technology. They even got to meet the Principal of Mercy College and chat with the students and staff. Thank you to Ms Sally for organising this wonderful excursion and fun day out!
Have a wonderful week with your families!
Stay safe and well,
Year 3/4 teachers
Mark MacGregor, Katarina Davidson and Graham Troy.
Year 5/6
Last week saw another busy and productive one in the Year 5/6 level.
In Inquiry, the students had the opportunity to test their water turbines that they had designed and built.The demonstrations gave students the opportunity to test their hypothesis as to what makes a successful water turbine and to make the necessary modifications. Observations and notes were taken, and these were then used to write a scientific report about the whole process. The students are to be congratulated on the collaborative manner in which they worked in small groups/partners to share roles, problem solve and share resources.
In another hands-on investigation into ‘How do we use energy and why does it matter?’ students were given access to electrical equipment including batteries, wire, globes, switches and buzzers. Students were posed with the following question: ‘What can you discover and make with these electrical items’? With a partner, students explored the materials and the results included intricate electrical circuits with functioning globes, switches and buzzers. Once again, this activity is an example of students working together and discovering new findings about our inquiry.
Another focus for last week was finding out about ‘National Reconciliation Week’. Students had the opportunity to read, listen and view information about this very significant event. The students reflected upon and discussed that it is a time for all Australians to learn about our shared histories, cultures, and to explore how each of us can contribute to achieving reconciliation in Australia.
As we know, this week sees us back to Remote Learning. Just a reminder that students are to meet with their teacher via Google Meet at the following times:
5/6 CF: 9:00am
5/6 OS: 9:15am
5/6 VC: 9:30am
The purpose of the Google Meet is to request confirmation of your child’s attendance, to discuss the day’s program and to give students the opportunity to ask questions or clarify directions. The Google Meet link is on the students’ google Classroom Page. Students are encouraged to regularly check emails and Google Classroom for communication from their teacher throughout the week.
Looking forward to a great week of remote learning.
Viviana Clarke, Olivia Sargent, Tania Fragopoulos, Michelle Casamento